Neuroscience

Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 94461 [post_author] => 62 [post_date] => 2021-05-26 11:50:57 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-05-26 15:50:57 [post_content] => Research Interests [post_title] => Kristin Ackerman [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => dr-kristin-ackerman [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-17 15:15:54 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-17 19:15:54 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?post_type=faculty-staff&p=94461 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 94389 [post_author] => 62 [post_date] => 2021-05-25 16:45:05 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-05-25 20:45:05 [post_content] => [post_title] => Michael Grider [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => dr-michael-grider [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-20 16:01:28 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-20 20:01:28 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?post_type=faculty-staff&p=94389 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 94356 [post_author] => 62 [post_date] => 2021-05-25 15:41:01 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-05-25 19:41:01 [post_content] => Research Interests: My main research interest focuses on identifying the psychosocial factors that contribute to a “failure to recover” after injury or illness. Specifically, I have focused on examining symptom exaggeration, performance validity, and malingering on measures of neuropsychological and psychological functioning in traumatic brain injury and chronic pain populations. Currently, my focus of research has moved toward looking at the specific psychological factors (e.g., somatization, anxiety, and depression) that contribute to persisting cognitive problems (e.g., working memory and processing speed) in these populations. In the future, I will continue to examine the relationship between psychosocial factors and chronic illness or disease.   Read More [post_title] => Kelly Curtis [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => dr-kelly-curtis [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-01 14:18:02 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-01 18:18:02 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?post_type=faculty-staff&p=94356 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 97806 [post_author] => 53 [post_date] => 2021-06-03 16:15:02 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-06-03 20:15:02 [post_content] => Dr. Jackson T. Sparks investigates insect chemosensory systems, focusing on the genes conferring specific phenotypes upon primary olfactory and gustatory neurons. His goal as an educator is to help HPU students become the best version of themselves.   Chemicals are used in agriculture, forestry and personal protection to prevent harmful insect behaviors. Repellent chemicals stimulate olfactory and gustatory receptors, whose functional class may often be gleaned by comparing gene sequences from multiple species. Undergraduates will identify chemosensory genes and their functions in economically important pest insects like mosquitoes or weevils using a combination of quantitative PCR, transcriptome sequencing, electrophysiological recording and behavioral analysis. Genetically engineered vinegar flies expressing genes of interest will be used to confirm exact chemical sensitivities of individual receptors ex vivo. These molecular targets may be pharmacologically screened for responses to novel repellents.   Future research directions include high-speed recording of mosquitoes to characterize the exact sequence of behaviors leading to blood feeding. Collaborative efforts are underway in the Biology Department to establish an insectary to allow students to ask their own questions about the biology of insects.   URL for publications list:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/jackson.sparks.1/bibliography/50527714/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending [post_title] => Jackson Sparks [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => jackson-sparks [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-20 16:24:23 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-20 20:24:23 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?p=97806 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 99090 [post_author] => 53 [post_date] => 2021-06-03 16:07:11 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-06-03 20:07:11 [post_content] => Full Bio [post_title] => Angela Bauer [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => angela-bauer [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-22 13:59:39 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-22 17:59:39 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?p=99090 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [5] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 98118 [post_author] => 53 [post_date] => 2021-06-03 16:23:19 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-06-03 20:23:19 [post_content] => Research Summary:   Substance Use Disorders Substance use disorders permeate our society and are among the most prominent leading health crises facing the nation. Today, we are in the midst of an opioid crisis that has strained the health care infrastructure and brought into sharp focus the need for more effective pharmacotherapies to treat substance use disorders. Investigating the neurobiology of addiction, craving and relapse is fundamental step for understanding the cause and consequences of this brain disease. To this end, our lab uses numerous techniques (analytical, biochemical and biological) and models (cell, rodent, monkey and human) to develop a more comprehensive knowledge of the disease process. Based on our studies, we are exploring the utility of compounds from botanical (kratom and ibogaine) and semi-synthetic sources to treat specific aspects of the addiction process.   Schizophrenia and Depression Schizophrenia and depression are serious mental health disease that affect approximately 1% and 3% of the world’s population, respectively. Currently available medications for treating these disorders are effective in some individuals for certain aspects of the diseases. The clinical complexity of schizophrenia and depression is paralleled by the complexity neurobiological, genetic and epigenetic contributions underlying these diseases. Utilizing human post-mortem brain tissue from world renowned human brain banks, non-human primate and rodent models we use biochemical and molecular approaches to understand the aberrant neurobiology associated with these diseases and the positive and negative implications of chronic antipsychotic and antidepressant medications on brain function.   Read More [post_title] => Scott Hemby [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => scott-hemby [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-09-01 16:35:24 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-09-01 20:35:24 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?p=98118 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [6] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 94500 [post_author] => 62 [post_date] => 2021-05-26 13:24:09 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-05-26 17:24:09 [post_content] => Google Scholar Profile [post_title] => Keir Fogarty [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => dr-keir-fogarty [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-08-13 14:08:49 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-08-13 18:08:49 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.highpoint.edu/?post_type=faculty-staff&p=94500 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => faculty-staff [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) )